Posts Tagged ‘basset hounds’

My full-blooded 11-year-old basset hound Carrie has mast-cell cancer. We chose to let her live out her days in comfort and dignity. We give her prednisone to slow down the tumor’s growth, anti-histamine pills twice a day to help her with the histamines the cancerous cells release, and antacids for stomach issues she may have digesting prednisone. I also feed her twice a day a grain-free dog food with a tiny bit of grain-free canned food to make it more appetizing. On top of it all, Carrie gets a midmorning or midday snack, which consists of a berry-type of fruit (in the photo I’m providing, she’s fed 1 strawberry and 6-10 blueberries), plain yogurt, and a raw egg. Carrie was given 3-months to live on November 2015. Today is January 3, 2016, and she’s quite healthy. I am hoping that my she will have many more birthdays to celebrate on April 15 (he birthdate). And I am hoping that my food choices for her and her younger brothers (the black-and-white dogs also in the photo) are responsible for her longevity.

In 1983, we brought home a tiny 8-week-old basset hound puppy. Six years later, we found a beautiful mixed-breed (part German shepherd-lab-golden mix). The dogs weren’t best friends, but didn’t hate each other either. The German shepherd mix never fussed when we took only the basset to the vet, except for one day. That day, the basset was taken to be euthanized. She was over 14 year old and suffering from kidney failure. How the German shepherd mix knew that her sister was leaving this world, we never know. But she was so distraught that she almost ran into the window trying to get out to be with her sister in her last moments.

Later on, we acquired a pack of 5. When one would be on death bed, there always was one or two who would keep guard by the sick dog’s bedside. So, when a question as to whether one should let two basset hounds be around a baby that was dying was posted in FB on a basset hound group I belonged to, I didn’t hesitate in saying yes. The family were worried that the basset hounds would be too stressed out. I knew from experience that the hounds would be an awesome source of comfort and the hounds would find comfort as well. Today, I found this article about them in yahoo:

Basset Hounds Wouldn’t Leave Dying Infant’s Side

By NICOLE PELLETIERE

Good Morning America

A family’s two basset hounds refused to leave a dying child’s side after doctor’s informed her parents the devastating news that she wouldn’t survive.

“It was really nice,” mom Mary Hall of Deluth, Minnesota, told ABC News. “It brought us a lot of comfort to have them [there]. But by the end of the first day, you could see they were stressed out and depressed. Normally, they’re very happy-go-lucky. We knew they could sense there was something wrong.”

Nora Hall, 5 months old, died Monday after suffering a stroke April 6 and spending three weeks in the hospital.

The stroke had affected both sides of her brain, causing severe damage, her mother said.

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The family dogs, 8-year-old Grumpy and Gracie, fell in love with Nora as soon as she arrived from the hospital, Hall said.

“Gracie, especially, took on the role as second mother,” she said. “Whenever Nora would cry, Gracie would run to see what was wrong. She was always, always by Nora and kissing her and making sure she was OK.”

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As Nora’s days were sadly numbered, Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis asked Mary and John Hall whether they had any final wishes for their daughter.

“I asked, ‘If you could let us have our dogs [at the hospital], we’d really appreciate that,’” Hall recalled. “I didn’t want to go home and have them sniffing around for her and not knowing where she went. They lowered the bed so the dogs could lay with her and Gracie ran up and licked her [Nora].”

Hall said she is grateful for the hospital honoring the special exception of having Nora, Gracie and Grumpy together one last time.

The family snapped photos of the touching goodbyes and posted them on Facebook.

“She was just a really happy baby,” Hall said. “Before we went into the hospital, she’d just start laughing. She was happy all the time.”

Bassets: Are They Couch Potatoes?

Most people think of a basset hound as the perfect couch-potato dog. Most bassets are low key, don’t disturb my sleep kind of dogs. Many also claim that because basset hounds are stubborn by nature (after all, they were bred to follow their nose and get that rabbit out of the briar patch) are therefore difficult to train, and few expect them to be obedient. I have had bassets in my life for over 30 years. Some of my bassets were downright stubborn and I learned to follow their commands. Others, especially my current 9-year-old basset obeys me simply because she loves me. But recently, after following a new “friend” in Facebook, I found out about a basset who can do something that never in my wildest dream did I imagine a basset being able to do. He just recently became a CS-ATCH, which I found out means Canine Specialist Agility Trial Champion. His name is Diesel, and his slave or guardian (I hate the name “owner”) is Shelly Nowicki Gordon who is the president and intake coordinatior of ABC Basset Hound Rescue of NY.

Diesel’s Story

So let’s find out a little bit about this amazing hound. Diesel, according to Shelly, came from a backyard breeder (BYB). Most of the rescue bassets come either from BYB or puppy mill because a bona-fide breeder will take your hound back if for some reason you need to have it rehomed. So don’t be fooled when you purchase a basset. It doesn’t matter that they have AKC papers, as the American Kennel Club is not vigilant about what type of breeders are breeding the dogs. Anyway, if you are to get a BYB dog, you might as well get a rescued dog. It’ll make room for new rejected dogs to be rehomed rather than facing euthanasia in a shelter.

Anyway, back to Diesel’s story. Diesel and his sister Andi were purchased together. But the person who bought them could not housetrain them (bassets take up to 18 months to realize that the grass “carpet” and not the indoor carpet is the place to go). This person, however, did the right thing. She didn’t take the dogs to the shelter, where more than likely they meet death within a few days, she took them to ABC rescue. At ABC, foster homes were set up, and the person changed her mind. She was going to try and work with them.
A month passed by and ABC was called again. The dogs had to go. The person (female) could not housetrain them. The original fosters homes were full, so Shelly offered to help by fostering one of them. She figured that as they were only 7 months old, they would soon be adopted. Shelly chose to foster the male hound (Diesel), since she always had males.

The joke was on Shelly. For some reason, nobody wanted to adopt Diesel. And after few weeks, Diesel was adopted by the Gordon family. Lucky for Diesel, Shelly had a friend who was working agility with her basset hounds, which spurn Shelly to try to sign Diesel up for agility class.

So Diesel was taking classes, but it was not until the same friend who talked Shelly to take classes talked her to sign him up for local trials. At the first trial, Diesel surprised every one by getting the red ribbon for second place. Shelly was hooked.

Diesel Gets His Ribbons

Three years later, Diesel got the CS-ATCH that he and his slave were working so hard for. An exhuberant Shelly says that the day Diesel got his CS-ATCH was “ One of the best days of my life. From a dog that couldn’t be housebroken…to a dog that can do a teeter and weave poles.”

An exchange student from Germany who lived with the Gordons once said, “Diesel will do anything to make [Shelly] happy.” Shelly says that, “Standing at the start line next to me, running with him for 40–60 seconds, and crossing the finish line together…that makes me happy. Ribbons or no ribbons. He’s a great teammate and I’m honored that he was chosen for me.”

Diesel’s Triumphant Moment

Bassets Rock

It’s just awesome to see Diesel confidently go through the entire agility course. So, if you are into doing some agility work and want to have a basset. Don’t hesitate, if the dog loves you and you work hard together, you will be a great team.

And here’s a nice side note: In 2008, Diesel’s mom (Eeyore) was for sale in the paper. Shelly convinced the owner to turn her in to rescue. And she adopted her too. She’s a therapy dog and goes to a nursing home on Tuesdays.